[Mwells]

Hello to all. Thank you in advance for all you have done to help others and myself gain insight regarding spine issues.

I am a 39 year old male, I live in San Luis Obispo CA. I am a concrete contractor by trade, I have a wife and two young sons, and also use my body surfing, diving, hiking, running, when my level of discomfort allows.

Two years ago I free fell down a wave onto the side of my head. I did nit hit bottom but the water impact tweaked my neck so far to the side that the neck immediately got hot and tingly, but no pain. I figured I was ok but two days later it stiffened up to the point of high pain and almost no flexibility. No MRI, 6 months of PT, Massage, got me 90% back.

Jump forward to Feb 2017, after a week of heavy lifting at work, followed by a week of sleeping in a Santa Barbara hospital chair with Grandma who had a stroke, my neck pain and stiffness jumped up to an 8 over a five day increase. It stayed for three months.

I have been working with a local Chiro that only does tissue work, no cracking. He broke down all the muscle adhesions around the neck area over a three month session, twice a week. This brought the pain down to a 3 but one day of working too hard and I flare right back up to a 6. For the past 3 months I have been not working to my normal ability, hardly surfing at all, it makes the neck tight, and definitely not the husband/father I could be without the constant discomfort.

x-ray/MRI showed moderate/severe DDD in C5-C6, and C6-C7, the bone spurs pinch the nerves that run down the right arm, causing constant tingling as well as inability to activate some of the muscles in my arm. In the top view of the MRI the Herniations bulge only about 2/3rds of the way across the spinal cord, I luckily have full control of the body below the chest except for minor tingling in the right foot.

I have seen four orthopedic/neuro surgeons, three local and one up in the Bay Area. Three of the three who did ADR recommended it, the other Dr. did not do ADR and recommended to come in posterior and shave the herniations off the spinal cord. The cortisone shot they tried to dull the pain with did nothing.

The Dr. I felt is best for me is Dr. Su at Mt. Tam Orthopedics. He did a great job of explaining the MRI/CT scan, he made a good enough case that either fusion or ADR is needed.

My main concern is:

1. How much impact can a well healed double level ADR Mobi-C in the lower cervical spine take? I want to be able to surf post surgery, it is something I have to do, and there will definitely be situations where the head gets pretty rattled. The thought of a plastic ball floating between two metal plates without any mechanical fasteners seems possibly vulnerable to heavy impact? Are there any surfers out there with a surfing track record post ADR? Has anyone found a study on what sort of impact the Mobi C product can take?

If I want to continue getting occasionally pummeled in the water should I get a two level fusion, will this be able to withstand more impact, and if so how much mobility would I be giving up?

Much thanks,

Maysun